This invention relates to cooking utensil vessels such as sauce pans, frying pans, skillets, Dutch ovens, and the like to which heat is applied at some point during the use thereof for purpose of cooking. More specifically, this invention discloses improvement in the structure of cooking utensil members whereby these members can serve as cover members and also as containers.
A cooking utensil vessel and a cooking utensil cover are two items which are commonly used together in home cooking activities. The cooking utensil vessels are generally used for containing foods during cooking, while the cooking utensil covers merely serve as covers for the vessels. Due to the fact that the cooking utensil vessels are subject to severe wear in daily use, a cooking utensil vessel may become unusable, while the cooking utensil cover is still usable. Customarily, after a cooking utensil vessel becomes unusable little use can be expected out of the cover, even though the cover may be in a good condition.
Most household cooking utensil covers comprise a concavo-convex body section, typically made of formed sheet metal. The concave side of the cover is faced downwardly as it covers the cooking utensil vessel during cooking. When the cooking utensil cover is turned over to its inverted position with the concave side facing upwardly it may, at least in principle, serve as a container. Indeed, some types of cooking utensil covers, in an inverted orientation, may be employed as containers.
However, in reality most cooking utensil covers are not designed for use as containers. This is evidenced by the fact that most cooking utensil covers have a handle in the form of a knob or the like located at the center of its convex side. Obviously, this makes the cover very unstable and unsuitable for holding food when it is inverted and positioned on a table. The purpose for such a knob is understandable since a cover with its handle located right at its top center provides the best configuration for serving its function as a cooking utensil cover. As the knob is held, the utensil cover can be very easily lifted for inspecting the food and/or for removal of food from the cooking utensil vessel.
Certain special purpose cooking utensil covers have a flat top section and a long side arm handle. This type of cover is usable as a container in its inverted position. However, the long side arm handle makes it bulky and unstable, and is not practical as a container for general household use.
Several types of cooking utensils for outdoor use have covers designed to be used as a bowl in its inverted position. Such a cover typically has a side handle which is removable from the cover body for compactness during storage. However, such a cover is not convenient to use in a general household application. Furthermore, the cover is useless if the handle is misplaced.
Since both a cooking utensil vessel and a cooking utensil cover are used together for the purpose of cooking, the vessel and the cover are generally acquired as a matched set. Actually, most commercially available cooking utensil systems consist of several such matched sets with different sizes and/or shapes in order to fulfill most cooking needs. In these systems each cooking utensil cover must be employed with a matched cooking utensil vessel.
A majority of cooking utensil vessels are made of aluminum or aluminum alloys. Aluminum is employed because of its superior heat conductivity property. This property is especially important for cooking utensil vessels used on the surface heating units of electric ranges or the like. In this kind of cooking it is important that heat is evenly distributed to the entire bottom surface of the cooking utensil vessel.
Perhaps largely for convenience in production, most cooking utensil covers are also made of aluminum or aluminum alloys. This does not present a problem unless the cooking utensil cover is also used as a food container. One of the major problems with aluminum food containers is the chemical reactivity of aluminum with certain foods during long term storage. Such chemical reactivity may cause pitting and/or discoloration of the aluminum surface. One other problem in the use of aluminum as a container material relates to its weak mechanical strength. An aluminum container will warp and dent easily after extended usage. An aluminum surface quickly loses its surface shiningness with use. Furthermore, an aluminum container is not suitable for food warming/cooking in a microwave oven, because of its undesirable characteristics in reflecting microwave radiation.
It is an object of this invention to provide a cooking utensil cover which can serve as an ideal utensil cover by having a handle above its top center area, and which can also be converted into a general purpose food container.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a cooking utensil cover which can be readily converted into a container and which can also be readily reconverted to a cover.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a cover member which can be produced at relatively low costs with conventional manufacturing techniques.
Another object of this invention is to provide a cooking utensil cover which includes rotatable bail handle means which permit the cooking utensil cover to be used as either a cooking utensil cover or as a food container.
One further object of this invention is to provide a cooking utensil cover equipped with bail handle means and bail mounting means having an unique surface contour which permits the position of said bail handle means to be changed with ease.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a cooking utensil system which consists of a cooking utensil vessel and a matching cooking utensil cover. The cooking utensil vessel is constructed of aluminum for its superior heat conductivity property, and in which the cooking utensil cover is constructed of a material or materials other than aluminum, whereby the cover can be converted for use as a container, with the cover having chemical inertness, mechanical strength and compatibility with microwave cooking.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a cooking utensil system which consists of multiple sets of cooking utensil vessels and matching cooking utensil covers, having various sizes and/or shapes.
Other objects and advantages of this invention reside in the construction of parts and the combination thereof, the mode of production and use, as will become more apparent from the following description.